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Waruland
Waruland is a nation on the continent of Pertusia. It borders Scenfa to the north, and the Creofani colony of Siora to the south. It also borders Waru's Bay to the north, Third Bay to the east, the Braccal Sea to the west, and the Absolute Sea to the southeast. The current wanakhs of Waruland are Qayisu Gdalkru Bakaash and Idertuya Ataal Jugdaan— in accordance with custom, a husband-wife pair rules as wanakh. Early history Although Waruland is named for its mythical founder, Waru, its first reliably attested monarchs are Monkhbat Altuch Bakaash and Enkhtuya Erlogde Amja. They united most of the twenty-four Warul clans under their rule, and were crowned as Wanakhs of Waruland in 1100 BT. In the earliest years of Waruland's unity, logistics proved to be an ongoing problem; the Warul peoples were numerous and nomadic, making it difficult to distribute supplies and communicate efficiently. In order to bring about greater communication, Oyunchimeg Ataal Muchgar established a shrine and a merchant community, Altuch-Tomb, at the site of Monkhbat's death. This allowed messages to be efficiently declared and broadcasted, and so Oyunchimeg's husband, Ganbaatar, was able to amass an army to invade the lands to the north of the Warul peninsula. During the ensuing wars, Waruland was able to extend its claim a stretch of land along the northern coast of Third Bay, although the largely equestrian Warul army struggled to penetrate the Scenfai forests. Several attempts were made to effectively navigate forest warfare— the first military commander to do so successfully was Erden Altuch Azordora (r. 976–943), who delegated a reconnaissance force to draw enemy armies into favorable positions. Over the course of Erden's reign, most of the forested region was subjugated. Although the Warul empire remained strong during this period, the Scenfai forests were still the most vulnerable part of the empire; several revolts took place there, most significantly one which killed Gantulga I in 894. Over the ensuing years, the rest of the forest peoples were able to break away from Waruland, causing a rise in resentment against the First Dynasty. These frustrations were further amplified by Narangerel Jugdaan Boshmor's mismanagement of the Third Bay coast region, and so an uprising began in 810. This ultimately saw the First Dynasty overthrown by Zorigu Shukh Mergen and Altanchimeg Jugdaan Chebed in 807. Contraction of Waruland The Second Dynasty of Waruland came off to a troubled start, as Zorigu and Altanchimeg struggled to hold the Third Bay coast against Amantib. After Zorigu's death in 783, his successors were the staunchly religious Nergui II and Erdoyu I (r. 783–753), who declared that the empire would need to shrink to remain strong, in accordance with the principles of the Murmaj faith. The Waruls pulled back into their desert heartland and turned inward, although several of the more expansionist clans continued raiding Amantib land. Monkhbat III and Bolormaa II (r. 717–688) initiated a crackdown upon raiders during their reign; the crackdown was particularly destructive to the Urlu and Nerzujim clans, causing several important clan leaders to retreat to Sdair Island. However, this action allowed a tenuous peace to be forged between Amantib and Waruland. The next few generations of Warul leaders began slowly expanding up the coast of Waru's Bay, but a leadership crisis ensued in 644, after Gantulga Shorakal Erlogde slew his sister-in-law Narangerel II and assumed wanakhship himself. Narangerel's husband, Zorigu III Shorakal Erlogde, returned from the Bay coast and waged the Shorakal War against his brother. Although Zorigu was ultimately unsuccessful, he left in his wake a sentiment of unrest. Gantulga (r. 644–611) was able to put forth a charismatic front that allayed rebellion, but his successors were less capable, and civil war came to wrack Waruland at the beginning of the sixth century BT. A series of ephemeral dynasties came to power in the ensuing decades, with none managing to claim a reliable hold on power until Toghrul Otsemej Mergen and Neganosol Altuch Azordora inaugurated the Seventh Dynasty in 493. Seventh Dynasty Toghrul and Neganosol sought to reunify the Waruls by turning the nation's focus externally; Amantib had been reduced to a small state along the Third Bay coast, and Toghrul subsequently led an army to crush the Amantibs. Their successors, Monkhbat IV and Munkhtsetseg II (r. 465–441), sought to continue that pattern by capturing Sdair Island and bringing even the Sdairils into the Warul fold. Although Sdair Island was successfully captured after a relatively brief war, holding the territory proved extremely difficult, as many Sdairils prided themselves on separation from Waruland. A series of revolts occurred, until Taamjin Kurolok Kuchtei— a Sdairil warlord— managed to expel Mishich II and Altanchimeg II in 353. This proved to seriously hurt Warul confidence, and civil war nearly started in the upcoming years, but Toghrul III (and Erdenechimeg II, r. 348–324) managed to quash it before it became serious. Toghrul and Erdenechimeg, hearkening back to their forebears' ambition, decided to start waging war against other continental powers; the first major one of these was the Warul-Shenap War, against the state of Shenap in the Scenfai forests. Shenap was powerful at this time, and so the Warul-Shenap War failed to achieve much, but it did draw the attention of Shenap's northern neighbor: the fledgling state of Trestoff. Shernazar I of Trestoff began negotiating with the wanakhs in the 320s, and in the ensuing decades, Trestofian and Warul monarchs managed to partition Shenap between them. Tensions gradually began to grow between Trestoff and Waruland, as several of the Warul clans wanted to invade Trestoff as well; however, the wanakhs refused to betray their major diplomatic ally, and ceded some land into the buffer state of Yirwan. Yirwan suffered many raids, but its existence prevented war against the Trestofians. Wars against the Cornic states of the east were also ineffective, as the Waruls' poorly managed supply chain struggled to provide for soldiers that far removed from the peninsula; further, the vultures holy to Murmaj were scarce in the east, creating anti-war sentiment among the more fundamentalist clans. Opinion gradually soured on the Seventh Dynasty over the course of the third century, and ultimately, Nergui Jugdaan Mergen and Odtsetseg Kair Muchgar drove them out of power in 222. Eighth Dynasty Nergui IV and Odtsetseg III (r. 222–191), learning from the failures of their Seventh Dynasty predecessors, worked on improving supply lines and communication throughout the empire, building trails and trade routes that allowed for efficient troop and supply transport. These were then used to devastating effect by Monkhtom III and Khulan II (r. 191–166), who waged a series of wars against Qipitwa, a state north of Waru's Bay. In 159, the Warul-Qipitwani wars were also joined by Tocata, who also partook in the partition of Qipitwa. However, the Eighth Dynasty monarchs did not have the diplomatic ideals of their Seventh Dynasty predecessors, and Tocata's perceived theft of Qipitwani land became a significant bone of contention for the Warul clans. Monkhtom IV and Altanchimeg IV (r. 152–119) gave the clans free rein to raid Tocata, and ultimately claimed the remainder of Qipitwa's land in the early 110s. The Warul lusts for expansion were satisfied at this point— the Trestofian realm was still a close ally, Tocata was beset by civil wars and unrest, and the east was not seen as religiously worthwhile. As such, the wanakhs of the first century BT focused on maintaining what they described as the Ezegur Wakham Khaltai, or the "Most Satisfactory Empire." The wanakhs were periodically forced to contend with revolts in their northern empire, but for the most part, they were able to provide hands-off rulership and allow the clans to live in relative freedom. Most Satisfactory Empire Although the later Eighth Dynasty wanakhs were well liked by their Warul and conquered subjects alike, their negligent administration caused the empire's central authority to corrode. In one notorious incident, Wanakh Taamjin IV (r. 5 DR–31 DR)— a Nerzujim along his maternal line— turned a blind eye to Nerzujim raids on other Warul clans. This emboldened other clans to begin feuding with one another, and by the reign of Ganzorig II and Oyunchimeg IV (r. 45–76), open warfare was taking place in the Warul heartland. One such war was between the Khyosh and Shorakal clans, a war in which Batuqorchi Khyosh Amja was slain in 64. Enraged by this, Batuqorchi's fifteen-year-old son Taamjin vowed to reassert imperial authority. Over the ensuing years, Taamjin— later joined by his wife Erdoyu— traveled through the Warul desert attempting to forge peace among the clans. This process was not always successful, but it made Taamjin and Erdoyu widely popular among the Warul aristocracy. Consequently, support began coalescing behind them for the wanakhship around 80. In an attempt to quash the support for Taamjin and Erdoyu, reigning wanakh Erden V challenged Taamjin to a duel in 82, but Taamjin slew Erden and ascended the throne himself. Taamjin and Erdoyu thus inaugurated the Ninth Dynasty of Waruland. The early Ninth Dynasty was much more involved in Warul politics than the Eighth had been, and so they presided over a very strong central state; however, they appointed a series of ineffective governors of the northern territories, causing the Tassamite Rebellion to erupt in 146. The uprising was a bloody one, and even slew Wanakh Batuqutugh in 149; his successors, Zorigu VI and Altanchimeg V (r. 149–176), were forced to devote a large part of Waruland's forces to putting down the uprising. This near-collapse of Waruland's northern territory startled the wanakhs, and they began spending more and more of their time there; they did still try to remain involved in Warul politics, but this became increasingly difficult due to their distance. After wanakhs Monkhbat VIII and Neganosol II (r. 204–207) failed to have any children, they appointed provincial leaders Ganzorig Shorakal Ageban and Narangerel Azordora Ageban as their successors; many Warul nobles were angry about this decision, but struggled to communicate this to the wanakhs, only exacerbating the issue. Making matters worse, Ganzorig and Narangerel (r. 207–239) were greatly inattentive to the Warul peninsula, causing tension to continue rising. Divided wanakhship In 241, Batuqorchi Ataal Kair rode to Altuch-Tomb and declared himself Wanakh of Waruland. He and his wife, Khulan IV, were readily accepted by the Waruls disaffected with the Tenth Dynasty; many chiefs subsequently began paying tribute to Batuqorchi and Khulan. Under the first two decades of the divided wanakhship, there existed a tense peace between the two factions, as neither was willing to declare open war; however, the situation did degrade into the Warul Civil War in the 260s and 270s. It was difficult to gauge the results of the Civil War, as both parties remained in power and both laid claim to the full extent of the Warul empire. However, the financial and human costs of the war were most extreme for the northerners, causing other Pertusian states to begin assaulting the north of Waruland. This manifested most destructively in the 314–320 Incolar War, in which a group of ethnic Scenfai and Trestofians carved out the nation of Incola in Waruland's north. By 322, Scenfai rebels also slew Bolormaa III, and attempted to murder her husband Batuqorchi as well; this brought the Tenth Dynasty to an end. Although Toghrul IV and Altansarnai V (r. 308–341) were largely unrelated to the collapse of the Tenth Dynasty, they still celebrated the occurrence as a significant victory; however, without the Scenfai forests in their territory any more, Waruland suffered a famine in the later 320s. The famine proved not to be devastating in and of itself, but it left Waruland vulnerable, and so in 334 Juan VI of Creofan managed to establish a foothold on the Warul peninsula. Creofani colonialism Although Juan VI carved out a small colonial territory in Waruland, his interests were more commercial than military, and so he managed to build friendly relations with Toghrul and Altansarnai. These were largely undone, however, by Juan's successor— Ramiro XI. Ramiro hoped to expand his holdings in Waruland, and began shipping armies into Siora; although he was greatly outnumbered, his soldiers were armed with tragpulverze, which granted them the range and adaptibility to triumph in a series of wars. As the fourth century continued, Waruland lost sizable swaths of land to Creofan; however, reigning wanakhs Monkhbat IX and Neganosol IV (r. 341–361) were gifted diplomats, and they managed to maintain their popularity with the Warul clans in the face of crumbling power. This strategy was functional for some time, but the wanakhs largely delegated the war efforts to the clans, causing resentment to gradually build. A particular point of contention was the wanakhs' resistance to gunpowder weapons, while a number of the clans— especially those near the Sioral border— were beginning to adapt to them. Gantulga V (with Khulan V, r. 379–405) ultimately agreed to wage direct war against the Creofani colonial government, and under the later years of his reign, he made a number of territorial gains; however, his successor Taamjin VIII (r. 405–411) refused to use guns, causing military failure and arousing anger among his soldiers. Thus, when Taamjin was slain in the Battle of Chuluurtsam, the soldiers installed Eljigidey Shorakal Muchgar and Idertuya Ageban Kair (r. 411–428) to succeed him. Eljigidey and Idertuya, inaugurating the Twelfth Dynasty, were much more willing to use tragpulvers, and gradually developed new tactics that synthesized traditional Warul warfare with the new possibilities afforded by firearms. During their reign, they had only modest military success, but their successors Monkhtom V and Tsetseg V (r. 428–451) were able to drive Creofan out of Waruland entirely. Fernando X of Creofan did stage a second invasion of Waruland in 462, hoping to capitalize on a bout of sickness suffered by Waruland's Ganbaatar IV. Ganbaatar's wife, Erdenechimeg V, managed to talk Fernando into an armistice— and so Siora was established as a small trading colony in Waruland's far south. Recent history Since the Siora Agreement of 463, Waruland has remained fairly peaceful; after trade with Creofan brought a new diversity of luxuries to Waruland, there came to be a craze for trade. Eljigidey V and Enkhtuya VI (r. 466–500) sought to attain naval dominance by repairing relations with the Tsolgden, an ethnically Warul population descended from the Tenth Dynasty; this allowed a Warul navy to develop in Waru's Bay and monopolize trade there. This has also led Waruland into conflict with the Golden Quintet; the height of this came during the mid-sixth century, after a Warul fleet sunk a ship of Heplian missionaries. The Quintet blockaded Waruland's ports, but were unable to cause serious damage, as Waruland was not dependent on overseas importation of food; thus, the war ultimately resolved inconclusively. Relations remain tense between Waruland and the Quintet, but the Quintet is remote enough from the peninsula that the conflict is much ignored. Category:Countries Category:Pertusian Countries Category:Active Countries